Improvement in



UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL P. IIENTZELMAN, OF NEWPORT BARRACKS, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN. METHODS OF FLOATING HORSES, Src., ACROSS RIVERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. SQ, dated November' 24,1857.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. IEINTZEL- MAN, ot Newport Barracks,Campbell county, and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and usefulMode of Floating Horses and other Animals Across Streams of Water, andcalled by me the Cavalry Float5 and l do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe annexed drawings, making part of this specification.

During a long service on the frontier, where ferries are few, thenecessity for some means more portable than boats for crossing the menand animals suggested itself. The want thereot often proves the sourceof much delay and loss, frequently the delay thus encountered inpursuing Indians being such as to make any further progress useless.Especially has lthis been experienced on the Pecos, in Texas, the RioGrande, the Colorado and its tributaries, and on the Columbia and itstributaries.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a mounted horsemanwhose animal is equipped with a suit ot' AIny lioats. Fig. 2 representsa suit of floats detached.

My lioats consist, mainly, of a pair of bags of gutta-percha,india-rubber, or other suitable substance c l) c a b c', each of thepeculiar' double-lobed form, substantially as represented, the two lobesd l) d b of each respective bag communicating interiorly by a small ductc c. The two bags are united together' by means of two girths d d', oned being intended to pass under the herses belly a little behind the forelegs and the other a little in front of the hind legs. There are alsostraps e fg 7L, which pass, respectively, in front of the breast, overthe wethers, and over the rump, and behind the hams, and are securedeither by buckles, as represented, or in some other convenient mann er.t are tubes th rough which the bags may be intl ated by the breath,

the air thus introduced being secured by valves in any approved Way. Asquadron of cavalry thus equipped, the men having waterproof pantaloonswith feet, can cross rivers, lakes, or estuaries dry-shed without theaid of boats, and by attaching my cavalry-iloats to animals in harness,the wagons having the Stanton lloats or being formed of corrugated iron,like Franciss, such as are now used in the army, they can pass over inthe same way. Moreover, by having the floats of snflicient size eachhorseman could take over with him another man. Thus in a campaign suchtloats would be invaluable, as with their aid cavalry, with an infantrysoldier behind each man, and light artillery could be crossed overrivers at unexpected points and with great expedition, and by this meansprevent an enemy providing means of resistance.

For emigrants in crossing the continent to California or Oregon, wherenumerous rivers are met with whose fords are doubtful or far asunder, afew such floats would prevent delay and the serious loss sometimessustained by using the precarious alternative of rafts.

All frontiersmen could relate instances in their own experience wheresuch facilities would have proved invaluable.

I claim as new and oi' my invention herein- The specil'ic form ofcavalry-float herein described, consisting, mainly, of a pair ot' bagsconnected by girths and provided with the described fasteningstraps, thebags having each the form of two lobes connected by a duct and beingprovided with suitable inflation-tubes, as represented, or equivalentdevices, for the purposes explained.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand before two subscribingwitnesses.

S. P. IIEINTZELMAN.

Witnesses:

J As. D. GRIDLEY, GEO. Il. KNIGHT.

